In the 2004 local elections at county level it increased its number of councillors from 8 to 18 out of 883 and at town council level its number of councillors increased from 5 to 14 out of 744.

On February 18, 2004 Daley said he would have " no problem " with Cook County issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, but stopped short of saying he would follow San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom by having the City of Chicago issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, saying only the county clerk's office can issue marriage licenses.

However, George W. Bush carried the county twice, by 52 % to 47 % over John Kerry in 2004 and by 49 % to 46 % over Al Gore in 2000.

Democratic U. S. Senator Patty Murray narrowly carried Clark County in the United States Senate election in Washington, 2010 with 52 % of the vote, but lost the county to Republican Senate candidate George Nethercutt in 2004.

In the last of these, Cattaraugus County's votes proved pivotal in the 2008 elections: incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl, who had strongly carried the county in 2004 and 2006, lost Cattaraugus County to Democrat Eric Massa in the 2008 elections.

The county is generally considered a " red county ," with Republicans usually outvoting Democrats in most statewide and national offices ( for instance, in 2004 George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in Cattaraugus County by a 60-40 margin ) though Bill Clinton won the Cattaraugus County very narrowly in 1996.

In state elections it was the only county to be won by Howard Mills over incumbent Chuck Schumer in the 2004 U. S. Senate election.

George W. Bush won the county narrowly in 2004 with 53 % of the vote, while Barack Obama slightly edged out John McCain in 2008, receiving 51 % of the vote countywide becoming the first Democrat to win Saratoga County since 1996.

In both the 2004 and 2008 U. S. Presidential elections, it was the second-reddest county in New York behind Hamilton County.

Estimates of the woodlands in County Kilkenny include the Forest Inventory Planning System ( 1998 ) which estimated Kilkenny had 2251 ha of mixed woodland and broadleaf woodland not dominated by beech, representing 1. 09 % of the county and the National Forest Inventory 2004 and 2006 which estimated that 4430 ha of the county is native forested land, Scots pine was regarded as non-native, representing 2. 15 % of the county .< ref name = native-woodlands >

According to the U. S. Census Bureau's 2004 American Community Survey, 42. 3 % of the population work in another county.

George W. Bush carried the county in 2004.

As recently as 2004, discussion had taken place surrounding the possibility of the city of Cape Coral becoming its own county, citing in particular a perceived lack of infrastructure support from the Lee County government.

On August 13, 2004, the county was struck by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, particularly on the northwestern islands of Captiva, Gasparilla and North Captiva.

Although Monroe County has voted for the Democratic candidate since 1992, it is a close county in presidential elections ; it was won by the Democratic Party by margins of 5 % in 2008 and 0. 5 % in 2004.

Incumbent George W. Bush won the county in 2004 with 78 % of the popular vote and in 2008 the Republican candidate John McCain polled 72 %.

With wealthy coastal towns such as Palm Beach, Jupiter, Manalapan, and Boca Raton within its limits, as well as equestrian mecca Wellington and golfing haven Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach County is Florida's wealthiest county, with a per capita personal income of $ 44, 518 as of 2004.

The early 21st century brought many trials for the county including two major hurricanes in 2004 and an economic and housing slump starting in 2008.

In September 1979, the county was declared a disaster area due to damage from Hurricane Frederic, and again in September 2004 due to damage from Hurricane Ivan.

The county has twice been declared a disaster area due to extensive hurricane damage: in September 1979 due to Hurricane Frederic, and in September 2004 due to Hurricane Ivan.

Maui County was the only county in the United States won by Dennis Kucinich during his unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic Party nomination to the presidency in 2004.

In 2004, the government discovered that many of the soldiers it was paying did not exist and that there were only about 19, 000 soldiers in the army, as opposed to the 24, 000 that had been previously believed.

However, in fall 2004, three former Costa Rican presidents ( Jose Maria Figueres, Miguel Angel Rodríguez, and Rafael Angel Calderon ) were investigated on corruption charges related to the issuance of government contracts.

In December 2004, the EU leaders announced that accession negotiations with Croatia would start on March 17, 2005 provided that Croatian government cooperates fully with the ICTY.

However, in October 2004, the Cuban government announced an end to this policy: from November US dollars would no longer be legal tender in Cuba, but would instead be exchanged for convertible pesos ( since April 2005 at the exchange rate of $ 1. 08 ) with a 10 % tax payable to the state on the exchange of US dollars cash — though not on other forms of exchange.

After many buffetings and, finally, after the catastrophic results of the June European Parliament election, 2004 Špidla resigned after a revolt in his own party and the government was reshuffled on the same basis.

In 2004 the United States ( US ) government believed the Continuity IRA consisted of fewer than fifty hardcore activists.

On 13 July 2004, the US government designated the CIRA as a ' Foreign Terrorist Organization ' ( FTO ).

* RAI International: In Summer 2004, this Italian government controlled channel was denied permission to broadcast independently in Canada on the grounds that it had acted and was likely to act contrary to established Canadian policies.

As a result, the government deficit increased to US $ 17 million in 2004 from US $ 7 million in 2003.

In 2004, the government began a resettlement initiative to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages.

In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages.

In 2004 the Annan Plan for Cyprus was put to vote but whilst it was accepted by the north, it was rejected by the Greek-Cypriots as it meant in their eyes, endorsing a confederal state with a weak central government and considerable local autonomy.

Economic conditions worsened when Hurricane Ivan hit the country in September 2004 ; progress in fiscal consolidation was impeded as government revenues fell and policy priority was shifted to post-hurricane relief.

But progress in fiscal consolidation was impeded in 2004 as the government policy changed abruptly to post-hurricane relief.

The government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior was elected in March 2004 in a free and fair election round, but was replaced by the government of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes which took office already in November 2005.

In 2004 it was revealed that the Australian government was willing to offer a subsidy to Southern Pacific Petroleum on the condition that the oil company would take legal action against Greenpeace, which had campaigned against the Stuart Oil Shale Project.

Yvon Neptune was appointed Prime Minister on March 4, 2002, but following the overthrow of the government in February 2004, he was replaced by an interim Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue.

He was also the first Scots Makar ( the official national poet ), appointed by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004.

In the 2004 elections, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ), supported by various parties.

The 2004 Indian elections saw the INC winning the largest number of seats to form a government leading the United Progressive Alliance, and supported by left-parties and those opposed to the BJP.

Ismail Khan was ultimately removed from power in March 2004 due to pressure by neighbouring warlords and the central Afghan government.

* 1907 – Paul Nitze, American government official ( d. 2004 )

After the referendum, Repše's government started to fall apart and he eventually resigned in January 2004.

A new government, led by Indulis Emsis, head of the conservative " Union of Greens and Farmers " ( ZZS ) was approved by the parliament in March 2004.